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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. tear — from crying
  7. drill — the tool
  8. date — the fruit
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. shower — to wash
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. scale — in music
  14. rash — hasty
  15. scale — size or range
  16. drill — a practice
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. rash — a series
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. drill — army training
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com